Create and verify a Google Business Profile: Step-by-step

You can usually complete the initial entries for a Google Business Profile in about half an hour. The second part, verification, takes longer. Google needs to be able to verify that your business truly exists and that you are the one running it. Only once this is confirmed will your listing appear fully in Google Search and Google Maps. And only then can you collect and respond to reviews.

This guide covers both parts in order. First, the question of whether you actually need a new profile. Then, the documents you should have ready, the four verification methods, and what to do if the confirmation does not succeed on the first attempt. At the end, you will find a checklist for the first week after approval.

Create a new profile or take over an existing one?

This is the most common mistake at the beginning. A business creates a second profile even though one has long existed. Google does not just create listings when owners set them up themselves. Locations also appear because someone suggested them via Maps or because Google merged information from other public sources. Two profiles for the same location cause more trouble than you might think. Reviews get split between two entries, opening hours contradict each other, and in the worst case, you spend months maintaining the very profile that almost no one sees.

Therefore, first search for your company name combined with your location, and also take a look at the map around your address. Pay attention to previous company names, the name of a predecessor business at the same address, and variations in spelling. Depending on what you find, you will be at one of three stages.

• No entry exists: You create the profile from scratch and follow the four steps below.
• Entry exists, but is unclaimed: The entry will have a note stating that this business can still be claimed. You take it over and then verify it. Existing reviews and photos will be preserved.
• Entry already claimed by someone: This happens more often than you think, for example by a former agency, a departed team member, or the previous owner. In this case, you request access. Google forwards your request to the registered address. If this person does not respond within the stated time frame, you can proceed with the process and prove ownership yourself.

Before making a formal access request, ask around internally first. Often, access lies with someone you can reach anyway, and a phone call is faster than any formal process. Only create a new profile if truly none exists. If two entries for the same location do appear, report the duplicate using the "Suggest an edit" feature and request a merge. This takes longer than creating one, but it saves you from having permanently split reviews.

What you should prepare beforehand

Once it is clear which path you are taking, a little preparation pays off. The verification process runs much more smoothly if all information is consistent from the start. Google essentially checks only one thing: whether the stated business is actually operating at the stated address. If what you enter deviates from what is visible on-site or in public sources, follow-up questions or a rejection will follow. Most attempts fail due to such trifles rather than technical hurdles.

Before you start, keep this information in one place, preferably in a short document that others on your team can also access.

• Company name exactly as it appears on your business, on invoices, and on your website – without additions like location, service, or keywords.
• Full address including apartment/suite number if applicable, as well as a note on whether customers can visit the location.
• Phone number that is reachable during business hours, and the website address.
• Opening hours including lunch breaks and holiday arrangements.
• Suitable primary category and a handful of secondary categories.
• Evidence such as a business registration, extract from the commercial register, lease or rental agreement, and a recent supplier invoice showing the business address.
• Access to the location at a time when you can film or talk on the phone in peace.

Finally, there is the Google account, and more depends on this than it initially seems. Use a dedicated company account and not the private account of the owner or an employee. Otherwise, access to your profile will be tied to a single person, and sooner or later, when that person leaves, an unpleasant search begins. Furthermore, you can cleanly grant access to a company account to other people without passing around passwords.

Creating a Google Business Profile step by step

There are four steps in total. You can complete them on a computer or phone; for video verification, you will need a mobile device anyway. Plan about half an hour for steps one through three and have the collected information ready. You are in control of the first three steps. The fourth rests with Google.

Step 1: Create a Google account

Start with a Google account for the business, ideally using an address on your own domain as the login. Add a recovery email and a phone number that more than one person can access. Store the login details where you manage your other company access credentials. Ten minutes of work, and you avoid the classic situation where no one can get into the company profile anymore.

Step 2: Claim the profile

Before you create anything new, check again whether your location already exists. Google will guide you through a search by company name and address and show relevant matches. If your business is among them, claim this entry. Only if none of the matches fit should you choose the option to add a new profile. This sequence will save you from the tedious task of merging duplicate entries later.

Step 3: Enter data

Now you enter the name, category, address, and hours. The primary category carries the most weight, as it determines which search queries you qualify for and which features will be available to you later. Choose the category that describes your core business, not the broadest one. Someone who primarily repairs bicycles is a bicycle repair shop, not a sports store. Add secondary categories afterward. If you do not receive customers at your location but rather travel to them, provide a service area instead of a visible address. We have summarized which other fields are worth filling out in our 12-point checklist for optimizing your business profile. Work through them after you have been approved.

Step 4: Verify

Finally, Google will assign you one or more verification methods. Video, phone, postcard, and email are possible, but you cannot choose them yourself. Google decides what is offered based on category, location, type of business, and other criteria. Sometimes it is only one method, sometimes several. If you have a choice, pick the one you are best prepared for.

The overview compares the four methods: video verification as the most common, phone or SMS as the fastest, the postcard as the classic, and email as a rarely offered variant. They differ in effort, duration, and preparation. You need four things equally for all four methods: company name, address, supporting documents, and access to the location. Have them ready before you start the process. You can usually only repeat a cancelled attempt with a delay.

Comparing the four verification methods

For each method, you will find information here on how it works, what you need to pay attention to, and what you should do beforehand. Read this as a map, not a menu, because Google decides which method appears. The labels in the Google interface change occasionally, but the procedure remains the same in essence.

Video – the most common method

With video verification, you show your business, either live in a video call or with a recording you upload. Three things must be included. First, the location, i.e., the surroundings with a street sign, house number, and signage. Second, the equipment you work with. Third, proof that you run the business. Go through the process once without recording first. It sounds excessive, yet it saves you from having to do a second attempt.

Phone or SMS – the fastest

Here, Google sends a code to the registered business number, via a call or as a text message. You are done in a few minutes. Provided the number is actually reachable at the business and does not end up in a hold queue, at a central switchboard, or on an answering machine. This method is only offered for a portion of categories.

Postcard – the classic

Google sends a code by mail to your business address. Expect a wait time of several days. Tell everyone who receives your mail that this card is coming and that it must not disappear into a stack of advertising. And do not change anything regarding your name, address, or category while waiting, otherwise the process starts over.

Email – rarely offered

The code is sent to an address on your company domain. The mailbox must be active and checked regularly, and checking the spam folder is a must. Whether this option appears at all depends on the category and other criteria. You cannot specifically request it.

Video verification: what matters

Because this method is now the standard, preparation is especially worthwhile. The idea behind it is simple. In a continuous recording, without cuts, it should be clear that your business exists at this address, operates there, and is run by you. Everything that breaks this chain—a cut, a change of location, an unreadable house number—makes a re-review likely.

Film during a quiet time, in daylight, and with a charged battery, and ensure that no customers end up in the shot. Move the camera slowly and pause briefly at each piece of evidence so that it remains legible. This sequence has proven successful:

1. Street sign and house number, then the facade with your signage.
2. The entrance and the path inside, in one continuous motion.
3. The interior, i.e., sales floor, workshop, practice, or office, depending on the business.
4. Equipment, tools, inventory, or devices that match your category.
5. Proof of management, such as a business license, company stamp, access to the point-of-sale system, or the warehouse.
6. Finally, show the address one last time so that the beginning and end match up.

If you work mobile and without customer traffic, the same principle applies in a modified form. Show the labeled vehicle, the equipment, business documents with the company name, and the area in which you work. If your address is in a residential or office building, the nameplate on the buzzer and the mailbox with the company name will help. Feel free to say out loud what is visible during the recording. This helps with the verification more than a rehearsed text.

If verification does not work

A rejection is annoying and rarely the end. Usually, a piece of evidence is simply missing, or an entry does not match what is visible on-site. Therefore, go through the typical causes one by one before starting the next attempt:

• Different address data: The spelling in the profile differs from the official one, or an apartment/suite number is missing. Compare the profile character by character with your documents.
• Missing signage: No company sign is visible on the building. A clearly legible sign on the door or facade fixes this with the least amount of effort.
• Unsuitable category: What you show in the video does not match the selected category. A business managed as a restaurant that only shows office spaces raises questions.
• Unreachable channel: The phone number routes to a central switchboard, the mailbox is not checked, or the postcard was lost.
• Changes during the process: Name, address, or category were changed while the review was pending.

Fix the cause before you try again. An unchanged second attempt almost always ends like the first. Likewise, it does not help to enter a different variation of the data each time; that only complicates the review. Stick to one version and leave the profile untouched while the process is running.

If the retry is also rejected, contact Google Support for Business Profiles. Have the company name ready exactly as entered, along with the address, the date of the attempt, and your supporting documents as a file. Describe the case factually in a few sentences and state which methods you have already tried. One more thing: As long as the profile is not approved, do not collect any reviews, and under no circumstances buy any. Fake reviews and incentives for reviews violate Google's review policies.

The first seven days after approval

Once the profile is confirmed, the part that actually brings you inquiries begins. Freshly verified, such an entry is still thin, with few photos, no reviews, and half-filled fields. Use the first week to close these gaps while the topic is still at the top of your list. After that, consistency is what counts most.

1. Day 1: Fill out all fields – description, services, attributes, payment methods, accessibility.
2. Day 2: Upload photos, i.e., exterior view, interior, team, services, or products. Your own shots look better than stock photos from databases.
3. Day 3: Enter opening hours and holidays for the coming months and test the phone number yourself.
4. Day 4: Get the short link to your review page and share it with your team. Afterward, it is worth looking at how to systematically get more Google reviews.
5. Day 5: Publish your first post and fill the Q&A section with the three most common customer questions.
6. Day 6: Give other people on your team owner or manager rights so that the profile does not hang on a single account. Agencies should receive manager rights, not owner rights.
7. Day 7: Check how the profile looks in search and plan the levers for better Google Maps ranking.

The fourth point goes the furthest. A profile without reviews seems new and unverified, no matter how carefully you filled it out. For local search, Google mentions three factors: relevance, distance, and prominence. You cannot change the distance. You can, however, change the other two through complete, relevant information and through visibility, which includes reviews.

In everyday life, asking for a review is easy to overlook. A fixed point in the hand-over process helps prevent this—a place and a moment when it is asked for, for example, when paying at the counter. An NFC review stand for counter and table turns this into a simple gesture, while a review flyer with a QR code can be tucked into the receipt. Both only work within the framework of Google's guidelines: no incentives for reviews, no filtering out dissatisfied customers, no fake reviews. Everyone is asked in the same way. The article from search result to customer shows how a well-maintained profile then turns into concrete inquiries.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How long does it take to create a Google Business Profile?

Setting it up takes about half an hour if the name, address, category, and hours are ready. The total time depends on the verification process. Phone or SMS are completed in minutes, a video check requires time for review, and you wait several days for the postcard. Google does not provide reliable timelines, so plan for some buffer time.

How much does a Google Business Profile cost?

The profile itself costs nothing. Neither creating it, nor verifying, editing, posting, or responding to reviews costs anything. You only spend money if you book additional advertising or use auxiliary tools. If someone asks for money just to unlock an entry, check the offer carefully.

Can I choose the verification method myself?

Only to a limited extent. Google determines which methods are offered for your location, depending among other things on the category, type of business, and region. If multiple options are available, you are free to choose. If only one path is shown, no other will lead to the goal. You can generally only switch after a failed attempt.

Do I need a physical store for a Business Profile?

No. Businesses that travel to their customers can also maintain a profile. Instead of a visible address for visitors, you specify a service area. Google still requires an address for verification, and other proof may be requested, such as branded vehicles, equipment, storage, and business documents with the company name and address.

What happens to existing reviews if I take over a profile?

They are retained. Reviews are attached to the entry, not to the account of the person managing it. If you claim an existing entry, you inherit the previous reviews, including the average rating and existing photos. This is exactly why it is worth taking over existing entries instead of creating a second profile next to them.

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Note: Names, menu items, and processes in the Google interface change regularly, and Google decides on a case-by-case basis which verification methods are offered. The described steps may therefore differ in detail. Information on legal questions is of a general nature and does not replace legal advice.

AI tools were used for this article. Content and sources were edited and verified by our editorial team.